Priscilla Phillipus

Priscilla Phillipus comes from a family of Western Desert painters. Her mother is Patricia Phillipus Napurrula, and her grandfather is the Papunya Tula artist Long Jack Phillipus Tjakamarra. Through this family line, Priscilla inherited the Kalipinypa Water Dreaming that is central to her work.

Kalipinypa is a significant desert site near Kintore. Its Water Dreaming concerns a ceremony that calls on ancestral powers to bring rain and hail. Thunder, lightning and heavy rain transform the dry landscape, replenishing waterholes and waterways and allowing plants to grow again. Priscilla’s paintings carry this story of water and renewal.

Working with fine lines, Priscilla brings inherited symbols into compositions of her own. Her approach continues the subject painted by her mother and grandfather while giving it a distinct contemporary expression.

Her painting Kalipinypa was included in Nganampa Ngura Inmatjara: Our Country, Our Song at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery in 2024.